Year: 2022

AFC Futsal Asian Cup Kuwait 2022™ official draw today

the-afc.com
Kuala Lumpur
The official draw ceremony of the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Kuwait 2022™ in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, on Thursday (May 26) at 3 pm (GMT+8) will set the stage for the return of top-flight Continental futsal after a four-year hiatus caused by the pandemic.
After an intensive round of qualifying battles, the draw will reveal the opponents of Asia’s 16 teams who will compete for futsal’s grandest prize at the showpiece, staged in West Asia for the first time after 10 years, from September 27 to October 8, 2022.
The contenders will be divided into four groups of four teams, with host Kuwait placed as the top-seeded Member Association (MA) while the ranking of the AFC Futsal Championship Chinese Taipei 2018™ will determine the seeding of the remaining challengers.
Joining Kuwait in Pot 1 are the defending champions of the Islamic Republic of Iran, also the most successful side in the competition with 12 titles, Japan, runners-up in 2018, and Uzbekistan, who finished second on four occasions.
Iraq, Lebanon, Vietnam, and Bahrain will occupy Pot 2 followed by Thailand, who are the Southeast Asian Games gold medalist, Chinese Taipei, Tajikistan, and the Korea Republic in Pot 3.
Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkmenistan, and debutants Oman will have their names drawn from Pot 4.
As futsal makes a safe return to the Continent, the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Kuwait 2022™ draw ceremony is poised to unveil thrilling encounters in the Group Stage where the top two sides in each group advance to the next stage.
Futsal continues to grow at a rapid pace in Asia and this was evident when a record five teams – IR Iran, Japan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, and Vietnam – qualified for the knockout stage of the FIFA Futsal World Cup Lithuania 2021 for the first time.
Click here to watch the AFC Futsal Asian Cup Kuwait 2022™ draw live.

Iran’s Omid Team defeats Iraq in a friendly

Iran’s Omid national football team defeated its Iraqi counterpart by one goal at the Medina Stadium in Baghdad tonight at 9 pm.

The U23 Team or the national football team of Omid is currently in Iraq for a training camp that includes two friendly matches.

Under Mehdi Mahdavikia, the players are preparing for the upcoming AFC U23 Asian Cups. The only goal of the game came in the first half in the 12th minute by Aria Yousefi, a Sepahani player recently invited to the Omid national team.

Omid Iran line up was as follows:  Parsa Jafari, Amir Jafari, Milad Kerr, Saman Fallah (Mohammad Ghorbani), Alireza Khodaei, Mohammad Khodabandeh Lou, Yasin Salmani (captain), Mohammad Hossein Zaveri (Ali Pilaram), Amir Ali Sadeghi, Ahmad Shariatzadeh (Mohammad Javad) Kalmarzi), Arya Yousefi.

Team Melli news update.

Team Melli is preparing fror the friendly match against the Canadian national team on the morning of June 6. As per the announcement of the Canadian Federation, 50 people can be included in the list of Iran’s squad traveling to Vancouver for this match. FFIRI has also prepared a list of names of people who can accompany Team Melli on this trip. According to the list that will be soon submitted by head coach Dragan Skocic, the FFIRI will proceed with the administrative affairs related to issuing visas. Between 23 to 25 players will be selected plus the coaching staff and the support group, medical kits, and Culinary team are expected to be included in the list. It is also expected that security agents and undercover police be part of the group keeping an eye on the players.

Dragan Skočić

The Croatian head coach of Team Melli who has recently returned to Tehran from his holiday is just about to announce the final list of the Team Melli’s squad traveling to Canada. One major absentee will be Saman Ghoddos who is still on the injury list and not fully fit for competitive matches.

Skočić is still hoping that the federation could find a second opponent in Canada as it seems that the Ecuador match is in doubt.

Karim Bagheri.

The Football Federation of Iran FFIRI has crossed out Karim Bagheri’s name from the list that was submitted to the  Canadian Consulate in Istanbul, Turkey, for visa application. Karim Bagheri’ was given the choice to be either a part of the Team Melli coaching staff full time or maintain his post as assistant in the Persepolis team. Due to the requirement of Team Melli at this stage, the federation did not find it feasible for Krim to hold both posts simultaneously.

Dragan Skocic, the head coach of the Iranian national team, along with the executive officials of the Football Federation, have opposed the simultaneous presence of Karim Bagheri in Persepolis and the national team regarding the national team’s qualification to the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Therefore, the name of Karim Bagheri has been removed from the ranks of Skocic’s assistants, and he will definitely not accompany the national team on his trip to Canada.

Khodadad Azizi

On other hand, Mirshad Majedi, the acting head of the Football Federation, with the approval of the executive and technical committee of the Iranian national team, has agreed with the appointment of former Team Melli star Khodadad Azizi as part of the coaching staff during this trip to Canada. Azizi has been included in the list of visa applications. It seems like the possibility of his permanent presence as a replacement for Karim Bagheri is a serious possibility.

Mirshad Majedi

The acting head of the FFIRI is likely to head the delegation to Canada although it has not been confirmed yet. The Canadian Federation has requested in its contract the presence of the highest official of the federation on this trip for the possibility of negotiations of cooperation development, mutual agreement on future friendlies, and other areas of support between the two federations.  Therefore, Majidi is likely to accompany the national team on their trip to Canada.

Istanbul Camp.

The Football Federation has planned a mini-camp in Istanbul which allows  Skocic to train his player for at least three sessions in Istanbul. Apart from physically obtaining the visas, the squad will most probably have to travel to Vancouver through Istanbul anyway, so that created an opportunity for a mini-training camp that Skocic duly agreed uupon.

The Canadian connection.

the Football Federation of Iran and its Canadian counterpart expressed concern about some adverse comments regarding the match. The bad propaganda against Iran’s visit and the match in Vancouver are not sport-related and it is meant to negatively influence the potential attendees against the Iranian regime.  In this letter, the Football Federation of Iran, according to the clauses in the contract, has demanded stern action by the authorities against any kind of political protest and anti-regime slogans in the stadium.  It also demanded that the match be held in a complete sporting atmosphere and not spoiled by politics

. The Iranian Federation has stated that any political gathering during the presence of the Iranian convoy in Vancouver should be stopped and the necessary guarantees should be given in this regard. In the contract for this meeting, the host country has given a full commitment that it will not allow any formally and planned political protests. However, the Iranian Football Federation is waiting for an official response from its counterpart to ensure this. Canada responds explicitly The Canadian Federation, in response to a letter from the Iranian Football Federation, has announced that it has signed a contract with Iran as an independent body and will provide a full guarantee for the match without any political interference.

Letter of appreciation

 The second letter of tFFIRI to Canada includes thanks and appreciation for the response of Soccer Canada against political meddling and its rights to arrange friendly matches as it deems necessary for Team Canada.  The letter mentioned in part that Soccer Canada is an approved and independent body and that nothing could be expected but to maintain transparency and commitment to the contract signed by the country that will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Termination of this contract will only be possible under extreme conditions or unpredictable events and hence “force majeure” will be activated. If the game between the two teams is to be canceled under the “force majeure” conditions, no compensation will be awarded to either party.

Friendly with Albania

FFIRI  was negotiating with several federations for friendly games in Doha amongst them was Albania. This UEFA member is currently occupying 65 places in FIFA Ranking against Iran’s 21st. Albania never qualified for any world cup in its history and hardly has any famous name on its national team. Yet, this team demanded a large fee for the match plus all expenses paid by FFIRI for the Albanian squad.

FFIRI respectfully turned down the Albanian demands, however, the audacity of the Albanians seems to be laughable!!!

Omid Team Squad announced

The FFIRI website announced that Mehdi MahdaviKia, the head coach of the Omid team, announced the final names of the U23 squad to participate in the Iraq training camp and the U-23 championship in Uzbekistan.

After replacing Reza Kakhsaz and Parsa Jafari. The two goalkeepers of Peykan and Zobahan instead of Sina Saeedifar and Alireza Rezaei, the goalkeepers of Esteghlal, announced the following: Amir Ali Sadeghi (Esteghlal) Yasin Salmani, Arya Yousefi (Sepahan) Alireza Bavieh, Mohammad Amin Hezbavi (Foolad Khuzestan) Reza Kakhsaz , Erfan Shahriari Khalaji, Saman Fallah Vernami (Peykan) Parsa Jafari, Milad Kerr, Mohammad Hossein Eslami, Mohammad Khodabandeh Lou (Zobahan) Payam Parsa, Ahmad Shariatzadeh, Mohammad Hossein Zavari (Naft Abadan) Mohammad Ghorbani (Nasiji Mazandaran) Mohammad Mehdi Ahmadi, Mehdi Hashemnejad (Naft Masjed Soleyman) Amir Jafari Siglani (Shahr Khodro) Ali Javad Kalmarzi Sabet (Roda JC Netherlands) Yadegar Rostami (playing in the Polish league) Bilal Arazi, Ali Pilaram (South Pars) Alireza Khodaei (Saipa)

Alireza Faghani picked for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

Alireza Faghani has been appointed to officiate at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022. The Iranian international referee will be making his third straight FIFA World Cup appearance,

Iranian duo Mohammadreza Abolfazli and Mohammadreza Mansouri have been chosen as assistants in the competition.

The FIFA Referees Committee announced the lists with the names of the selected match officials for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.

A total of 36 referees, 69 assistant referees, and 24 video match officials (VMOs) have been chosen in close cooperation with the six confederations, based on their quality and the performances delivered at FIFA tournaments as well as at other international and domestic competitions in recent years.

For the first time in the history of the FIFA World Cup, the FIFA Referees Committee has also appointed three women’s referees and three women’s assistant referees.

Stéphanie Frappart from France, Salima Mukansanga from Rwanda, and Yoshimi Yamashita from Japan, as well as assistant referees Neuza Back from Brazil, Karen Díaz Medina from Mexico and Kathryn Nesbitt from the U.S. will work in Qatar.

Ecuador match in doubt!

When the news of the Team Melli match against Ecuador on 11th June first emerged, teammelli.com checked the authenticity of the news and quickly discovered that Ecuador is already scheduled to play Mali on 12th June! However, as the news was confirmed by the Manager of Team Melli, Hamid Estili on a TV show, we grudgingly published the news.

However, less than three days have passed since the announcement, there is now the possibility of canceling the game with Ecuador and a general change in the plans of Team Melli has been raised.  Most likely, there never was such a game with Ecuador, and someone must have fabricated it while Hamid Estili hastily confirmed it.

“The venue for the Ecuador game has not been determined yet,” Estili claimed today Friday. “If the game is to be played outside of Canada, both teams must meet the conditions. There was even talk of Spain, which was not possible for us and them.”

He also talked about FFIRI’s effort to find a replacement for Ecuador in case of cancellation of this game and said: “We are looking to play with Senegal on June 12th or 14th  at Azadi Stadium if the game with Ecuador does not materialize.”. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has supported us with this.

The second Team Melli preparation match is now in doubt thanks to the chronically incompetent management of FFIRI.

 

Ecuador is the second opponent for Team Melli.

According to the Mehr News reporter, Team Melli will play against the Canadian national team in its first preparation match for the FIFA World Cup 2022  on the morning of June 6th in Vancouver. Continued negotiations with other possible opponents for a second match by the Football Federation, resulted in an agreement to play the Ecuadorian national team to be held in Canada. Ecuador coached by Gustavo Alfaro’ is in the first group of the World Cup with the Netherlands, Qatar, and Senegal.

Ecuador’s place in Qatar is under threat due to Chile’s complaint to FIFA over the Byron Castillo who is alleged to be a Colombian national who played for the Ecuador National Team during the qualifiers for FIFA World Cup 2022.

Hamid Estili, the manager of the Iranian national football team, confirmed the match against Ecuador. Dates and Venue to be confirmed.

Geopolitics of Football.

The recent news of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s criticism against “Canada Soccer” for arranging a friendly international match against Iran in Vancouver, reflects on how geopolitics is affecting the game as much as how hypocritical and biased the western politicians are becoming.

After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the geopolitics of the invasion crept into the world of football. FIFA, the world governing body, under pressure from the west addressed the Russian invasion by suspending Russia and its football clubs from all competitions on February 28, including the ultimate one: the 2022 World Cup tournament in Qatar. The Justification was poor and unprecedented. There was no global and agreed UN resolution of any kind. FIFA never suspended the USA for invading Iraq or Afghanistan and committing genocides in the process.

The non-western world was shocked by such influence of politics on football. while FIFA always enforced its policy against the government and political interference in the game, it has historically tried to avoid geopolitics impacting the sport in principle. However, it is now clear that the game is not played on even grounds.

Nevertheless, the biggest shock that exposed the mentality of prejudice was the western Media’s hypocrisy and double standard. Although nothing to do with football, white reporters kept on highlighting the plight of civilized Ukrainian refugees, with white skin and blue eyes, in such acts of duplicity, prejudice, and downright bias that exposed the inherent bias against non-whites and people of other ethnic groups, races and/or religions. Embracing hate against non-whites, was perhaps subdued and carefully vetted but Ukraine made it flagrantly clear that extreme right and white supremacy is on the rise and sometimes flagrant.

It also highlighted that when it comes to their self-interest, the spirits of Olympics, sports, and others are dumped in the bin.

Russia’s suspension by FIFA was significant for two reasons. First, FIFA historically doesn’t punish countries for intrastate conflicts. Secondly, this is the first time that FIFA sided with boycotters. Moreover, the integration of politics with the World Cup goes beyond the Russian invasion, as the choice of Qatar as the host nation invited a significant backlash.

Normally, it is the role of the United Nations (UN) to sanction countries and member states following the resolution agreed upon. FIFA’s speedy suspension of Russia marks the first time since 1950 that FIFA allowed the intrastate conflict to play a role in its disciplinary decision-making without a prior United Nations (UN) resolution preempting it. Since World War II, most intrastate conflicts haven’t resulted in suspensions from FIFA. Two prominent examples stand out. England and Argentina participated in the Spain World Cup in 1982, despite the UK considering withdrawal during the Falkland War occurring earlier that year. Additionally, Iran and Iraq fought a brutal eight-year war during the 1980s, but FIFA suspended neither nation from the 1982 and 1986 World Cups (with Iraq being the aggressor).

Iran, itself has been condemned umpteen times for mixing politics with sport. Its boycott of the state of Israel is well known in every sport. Its Judo federation was finally suspended due to that. It is fortunate that Iran and Israel are far apart when it comes to football with The Jewish state not qualifying for the World Cup since its only appearance in Mexico in 1970. Can you imagine if Iran refused to play a country it does not recognize in a World Cup?

We have to face reality and that this world is controlled by the mighty powerful and the rich. Equality, human rights, peaceful existence, friendship, and understanding are all slogans that the west preaches to us and will use in their quest to dominate and influence the world. Unfortunately, football has fallen victim to this strategy. A character such as Trudeau, who is a known vehement anti-Iran politician with a special bias against the theocracy of the Mullahs, is part of such domination strategy and thus feels obliged to express his objection against a football match!

Fortunately, Canada is a democratic society where one person cannot dictate his whims or rules without the consent of the parliament. That cannot be said of Iran, of course.

And hence, Canada vs Iran match in Vancouver is on and 95% of the tickets have already been sold. Take that!

Canada Soccer under fire for scheduled international friendly vs. Iran

Toronto Sun
17th May 2022

Canada Soccer announced last week they would be hosting Iran at B.C. Place in Vancouver as part of a two-match homestand on June 5

Canada’s choice of opponent for an upcoming men’s international soccer match is drawing criticism from around the country, including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

When asked about the match Tuesday, and why his government granted visas to the Iranians, Trudeau, who was in St. John’s, N.L., differed to Canada Soccer.

“This was a choice by Soccer Canada,” Trudeau said. “I think it wasn’t a very good idea to invite the Iranian soccer team here to Canada, but that’s something the organizers are going to have to explain.”

According to the Canadian government, 55 Canadians and 30 permanent residents were among 176 people killed when Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752 was shot down by two Iranian surface-to-air missiles shortly after takeoff from Tehran en route to Kyiv on Jan. 8, 2020.

 

Canada Soccer chief marketing officer Sandra Gage put out a statement in the wake of the prime minister’s comments.

“At Canada Soccer we believe in the power of sport and its ability to bring people from different backgrounds and political beliefs together for a common purpose.

“Iran is one of 32 participating member associations at the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and Canada Soccer continues to follow all international protocols in staging this match. We are focused on preparations for our men’s national team to compete on the world stage.”

The exhibition game against Iran will be part of Canada’s preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup taking place in Qatar from Nov. 21 to Dec. 18.

Canada qualified for the men’s World Cup for the first time since its only previous appearance in 1986 in Mexico.

“That’s his opinion,” Vancouver Whitecaps and Canada striker Lucas Cavallini said to the Canadian Press about Trudeau’s comments. “But for us guys, for soccer players, we want soccer to grow here in Canada, and games like these are important for our nation, to bring the people closer to soccer.”

Iran also qualified for the World Cup, out of the Asian Football Confederation. They were drawn in Group B with England, the United States, and a yet to be determined European qualifier; either Wales, Scotland or Ukraine. Iran is 21st in the FIFA world rankings.

Iran will be participating in its third consecutive FIFA World Cup and sixth overall. Iran has never made it out of the first stage of the tournament and have two wins from 15 World Cup matches.

Its most famous victory was against the United States at the 1998 World Cup in France, winning 2-1 at the Stade de Gerland in Lyon. Iran also defeated Morocco 1-0 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

The Association of Families of Flight PS752 Victims have asked Canada Soccer to call off the friendly against Iran.

In a statement they said; “It recognizes the athletes’ rights to play diverse opponents and supports the sport and what the World Cup represents. However, it is offensive to the loved ones of Flight PS752 victims given the incredible loss they have endured at the hands of the IRGC (Iranian Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps) and their ongoing efforts to seek justice for the victims.”

Details of Alireza Beiranvand’s return to Persepolis

Alireza Beiranvand’s separation from Persepolis did not last more than two seasons.

Beiranvand, who joined Royal Antwerp FC in the Belgian First Division in the summer of 2020, after going through an unsuccessful period in this team, preferred to transfer to the Portuguese team Boavista on loan to have a better chance of playing and gain a new experience. His main objective, however, was to become the first choice keeper.

The Team Melli keeper who lost his place to Amir Abedzadeh became a bench goalkeeper for Boavista as well and played only 9 games for the team in one season so his dreams of shining in European football would be very short-lived. At the end of this season in Portugal, the Boavista club refused to activate the € 1 million clause in Beiranvand’s contract so that the Iranian goalkeeper could return back to his club Antwerp; At the same time, he saw Persepolis Club as a serious destination again.

Beiranvand, whose contract with Antwerp is for another season, announced that he would prefer to go to a team where he could play in the year of the World Cup. As a bench keeper, his selection for Team Melli will be in serious doubt otherwise. In the meantime; What better team than Persepolis, which is both a customer of his and can play in the team to regain his place in Team Melli’s starting line-up.

It is believed that the Royal Antwerp FC initially demanded 1 million and later reduced it to 700 thousand Euros as a release fee for the transfer of Beiranvand to the penniless Persepolis club. Shortly afterward, it was announced that Antwerp had agreed to give Beiranvand to Persepolis for less than this amount. Meanwhile, a Belgian media reported that Beiranvand’s transfer from Antwerp would not cost Persepolis any money. However, Antwerp will not pay anything to the goalkeeper from the remaining amount of Beiranvand’s contract, which is apparently a significant amount.

The news site nieuwsblad reported the news and wrote: “You may have forgotten him before, but Alireza Beiranvand (29) will normally return to Antwerp this summer. The Iranian goalkeeper was hired by Boavista, who did not use the option of buying him for one million euros. However, there is no prospect of the goalkeeper returning to Antwerp. He is about to sign a contract with his former club Persepolis.” The website added “Persepolis does not have to pay for Beiranvand’s transfer, but the fact that his high wages (and the significant amount of his contract signing) will be lost is positive for Antwerp,” the report said.